Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) recognizes the importance of a consistent and stable Learning Management System (LMS) in supporting innovative teaching and learning beyond the traditional classroom setting. This policy outlines institutional expectations for LMS usage, technology integrations, data storage, and compliance with state and accrediting body requirements.
This HSC OP will be reviewed annually in December each year by the Digital Learning Committee, with recommendations for revisions forwarded to the Academic Affairs and Curriculum Committee, with final approval by the Academics Council.
1. LMS Minimum Use Standards: TTUHSC recognizes the importance of a consistent and stable LMS in the facilitation and innovation of teaching and learning. The LMS is designed to be the official system used by instructors to deliver online content, assignments, and other course materials to learners for instruction. To ensure consistent access to course materials for all TTUHSC students, every undergraduate and graduate course must utilize the University’s LMS. All TTUHSC-transcribed courses, including those with nontraditional formats (e.g., dissertations, practica, experiential learning), must use the LMS. Minimum standards include:
a. Syllabus
1) All course syllabi must be created using the rich text editor in HTML format (an additional posted PDF version is optional).
2) Each course syllabus must clearly outline course objectives, applicable course/program policies, key dates and deadlines, course requirements, grade scheme, and include an accessibility statement.
i.The required accessibility statement for course syllabi is outlined in OP 77.14, Establishing Reasonable Accommodations for Students with Disabilities. Faculty should include this statement in every syllabus to ensure compliance with institutional accessibility standards.
b. Course Materials
1) Course content and materials are organized utilizing modules with a logical structure.
2) Any digital materials have logical file naming conventions and meet accessibility standards (WCAG 2.1).
3) All TTUHSC distance education courses and programs are expected to uphold the highest standards of quality and integrity, as aligned with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) Principles of Good Practice for Distance Education (PGP). For more information on Distance Education policies, please refer to HSC OP: 60.12, Distance Education.
c. Feedback, Communication, and Final Grade
1) Faculty will provide regular and timely feedback as specified by the program or department.
2) Students should be encouraged to use the LMS for questions instead of email, thereby centralizing communication, and enabling the keeping of records of communication. Recipients should respond within a set timeframe (or in a timely manner), as defined in the syllabus.
3) Instructors should consistently use the University’s LMS gradebook to communicate about specific course grades. The final grade must be entered using the Export Grades to SIS tool, which transfers grades to the Student Information System (SIS).
2. LMS Timelines
| Task | Deadline |
|---|---|
| *Clerkships, clinical rotations, and preceptorships may be exceptions. | |
| LMS Training | 1 month before first class (exceptions for late hires) |
| Course Creation | 1 week before first class (syllabi at a minimum)* |
| Course Activation |
|
| Final Grade Submission |
|
3. LMS Storage Policy
a. The LMS is not a repository for permanent storage of course materials and is not intended to be used as a document retention solution. To optimize the performance of this system and to operate within product licensing limits, data and content stored within the LMS must be limited. Therefore, all course materials should be preserved by instructors at the end of each semester in an approved TTUHSC file storage solution. Storage outside LMS is required to ensure that TTUHSC’s record retention policies are satisfied. For information on TTUHSC record retention policies, please refer to HSC OP: 10.09, Records and Retention.
b. Effective January 2026, official LMS courses generated by the student information system (SIS), or any other courses with students enrolled, may be deleted from the LMS four years following the end of the semester in which they are taught. Each school is charged with communicating a 30-day notice to all faculty and department leadership when courses are scheduled for removal. Institutions must also make a request for any special circumstances during the 30-day notice. This will give the instructor(s) an opportunity to save any important documents or data to locations outside of the LMS. Schools are responsible for exporting or archiving course materials and student work that must be kept for accreditation or record retention purposes beyond the four-year period.
4. Access and Authentication to the LMS
a. Access to the LMS is granted to students, faculty and staff based on roles.
1) Students: Course rosters are generated via official enrollments in the SIS. As such, access to the LMS is granted to students based on registration and enrollment in a specific course or courses. Students who are permitted access as an auditor must officially register in the audit course section through the Registrar’s Office and pay the associated fees. Course owners and administrators will not grant course access to students not listed in the official roster. Instructors and/or school representatives are not allowed to permit auditor access without adhering to this process.
2) Faculty/Instructors: Access to the LMS is granted to faculty determined by the Instructor role on a class section in the SIS. If someone is acting as an Instructor, they must be attached to the section in the appropriate role to receive LMS access. The Schedule of Class is the record of who taught a section. Previous terms should not be modified and people should not be added to the schedule in inaccurate roles to grant LMS access.
i. Staff: Access to the LMS is granted to staff based on roles. The appropriate School ET/IT administration can assist persons who are not involved with teaching a class gain access to LMS for administrative reasons.
ii. Administration: Access to the LMS is granted to administration based on roles.
iii. Temporary Employees: Access to the LMS is granted to temporary employees based on required roles and review and approval.
iv. Vendor Access to LMS
1. Temporary access to LMS for External Instructor Accounts and vendor support may be granted by the Associate Provost for Digital Learning and Academic Innovation or Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Integrated Learning.
2. Before approval, the following information is required:
a. Vendor, personnel name, and email address
b. Reason for external access by external user or vendor
c. Temporary dates of access
d. Confirmation that the external user’s or vendor’s access is covered by a written agreement addressing compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the protection of any education records accessed.
b. Authentication: All users of the LMS must access the system through one of two methods. A local account which uses (username/password) or a designated account, which is the same as the user's TTUHSC eRaider username and password, as long as the Single Sign-On (SSO) remains active. Users must not share accounts or login credentials. Unauthorized access, manipulation of grades, or misuse of LMS data may result in disciplinary action under student/faculty conduct policies.
c. The LMS will maintain audit logs of administrative actions, file access, grade changes, and vendor/API interactions. Suspected security incidents must be reported immediately to the TTUHSC Information Security Office and the Associate Provost for Digital Learning. The institution will follow established breach-notification procedures and notify affected individuals and regulators as required by applicable law, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Texas Business & Commerce Code.
d. Automation:
1) All transcribed course enrollments must originate from the SIS via ILP.
2) Direct manual enrollment is prohibited except under approved exceptions allowed below as follows:
i. Non-credit courses (training, development, orientation).
ii. Special project shells (grant teams, research collaboration)
iii. Accreditation or audit access
iv. Emergency faculty substitution
v. Incomplete or extended access for students.
5. Third-Party Integrations/ New Tools Approval
a. To maintain the security, stability, and integrity of the learning management system (LMS), unauthorized use of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) or third-party integrations with the LMS is strictly prohibited. API use is restricted to institution-approved applications and developers with documented use cases and minimal scope, following a formal review and approval process by the Digital Learning and Academic Innovation Division to ensure compliance with security and data privacy standards.
1) Third-party integrations (e.g., publisher tools, learning apps, analytics platforms) must go through the institution’s standard vetting process for accessibility, security, and data privacy compliance, including compliance with FERPA, and contacting the IT Solution Center and Creating a Ticket.
2) No individual or departmental use of the LMS API is permitted without prior approval, including the use of custom scripts, bots, browser extensions, or third-party tools that send or retrieve data via the LMS API. Only an approved service account may be used for API calls; personal accounts are strictly prohibited.
3) Faculty, staff, and students must not develop or deploy applications (including mobile or web apps) that interface with the LMS unless explicitly approved and tested.
4) Any automated data extraction or modification (e.g., pulling gradebook data, bulk editing course content) using the API must be coordinated with the Associate Provost for Digital Learning and Academic Innovation or the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Integrated Learning and the TTUHSC Project Management Team.
5) Any unauthorized API usage may result in the disabling of access, data loss, or security vulnerabilities, and may be considered a violation of institutional policy.